Meet the WISE 鈥� Yali Tang
We want to put our members in the spotlight! For the Meet the WISE series, we interview WISE members in different stages of their careers across the university. We hope that their stories, experiences and career paths can be an inspiration to other women at 黑料福利网.
Hello! Could you please introduce yourself and the research that you're doing?
My name is Yali Tang. I'm an associate professor at the Power and Flow group in the department of Mechanical Engineering of 黑料福利网. My research focuses on fluid dynamics and multiphase flow in all kinds of engineering applications, ranging from chemical processes, energy technology, and food technology. I did my PhD in the group of Professor Hans Kuipers at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry.
In 2017 I moved to the Mechanical Engineering department as an assistant professor, where I continue to work today.
What made you interested to pursue a PhD and an academic career?
Since my bachelor studies, I already made up my mind to pursue an academic career, because I'm just so interested in learning new things. During my master I got involved in research on fluid mechanics, particularly using computational methods. By the way, at that time modelling tools were not as popular as nowadays, but they already got my interest. The open and collaborative nature of academia is also an important motivation for me to continue on this path.
Why did you decide to stay at 黑料福利网 after your PhD?
For sure the research topic is one of the reasons, because I grew up here with this research topic. Another very important reason is the people around me. I really enjoyed working with people at Eindhoven, from the groups where I grew up, and where I am now, and also the people in the university with whom I collaborate. We are all with an open mind and a collaborative spirit.
How did you find out about the WISE network and what events or activities have really stuck with you?
I started to know the WISE network when I was doing my PhD. It caught my attention, so I joined quite some activities organized by WISE, social events just to get to know people. Because I am a female and a foreigner, and both of them don't help when making a network or connections.
I also joined lectures from invited female researchers, sharing their stories. I found that very useful and inspiring. That's the kind of thing I like to hear and reflect on: what could be my story? Those kinds of activities organized by WISE are very much appreciated. I joined many of them, but unfortunately I haven鈥檛 participated in those activities recently because of my full agenda. But I keep seeing the initiatives from WISE and I'm aware of the workshops being organised. I also recommend my own PhDs to join.
Regarding your hopes for the future, what do you think still needs changing and how could the WISE network be of help to achieve these goals?
I would say: just keep with what you have been doing, because I think you're doing very well in promoting female academics. And my advice for WISE would be to reach out to the female community at an even earlier stage, let's say start from bachelor and master student level already. Do not only focus on the PhD level, because that is in my point of view a bit late to influence how we see ourselves and how we envision our future. The WISE network can let female students see what kind of role models are there. And if there is a challenge for the community, how other people deal with this challenge. It's not about telling them what to do, it's just inspiration, such that they will think: what could my own success story be?
Speaking of role models, do you have a role model that has inspired you?
I don't have a single role model who inspires me the most. It doesn't matter whether it's a female professor or a male CEO, I try to observe the good qualities in other people's stories and see what I can learn and apply to myself. That's basically my own way of continuous self-improvement.
What is it that you take from them?
Maybe I can take a concrete example. Niels Deen is the chair of my group, and I work with him very closely both on research and education. What I have learned most from him is how to work with students and how to collaborate with colleagues. In early stages of my academic career, I often observed how he approached different situations. If I think: this is something I agree with, it鈥檚 a good way, then I try to implement it myself. I see if it suited me in the same form, or if I needed to adapt it to my own style. Direct 鈥榗opy and paste鈥� is not the way to go, but starting with 鈥榗opy鈥� introduces different options before you decide how to 鈥榩aste鈥�.
Do you have advice for people that might want to start a PhD or continue doing a postdoc?
I believe everyone has their own story, their own style. I would advise anyone not to pick up a PhD project just for a doctoral degree. That's not a good starting point. It's essential that the project truly interests you. Because without that intrinsic motivation, no matter how strong the team may be, achieving meaningful success becomes very difficult.
Of course the PhD is the main person who conducts the research. However, I always remind my PhD students: you're not alone, we are a team. Each PhD student has at least two supervisors: a promoter and a co-promoter. They have a wealth of experience. Make use of it! So listen carefully to their advice and learn from their perspectives.
Sometimes a team of three persons is not enough, because some topics require a multidisciplinary approach and certain aspects of expertise may be missing. In such case I would say to a PhD student: feel free to reach out to external expertise you think that can contribute to your project. I always encourage my students to make connections, for instance when going to a conference. That's where there is a very huge pool of expertise. Try to connect and to find the expertise which can help you. Some students just go to present their presentations, and that's all. I would say that's really a pity. Networking is equally important and of course by networking you have to go talk to people. So be proactive in doing this.
Supervisors also share the responsibility of facilitating these connections and identifying the right expertise. As a supervisor, I very actively do this.
Networking can be very hard. Especially in the beginning you can be a bit intimidated by all these people who have way more experience than you do.
Yeah, that's true. I also recall it from when I was a PhD student. I would say, as long as you take your first step, then the following will be much easier. You'll find that nobody will think 鈥測ou鈥檙e a PhD student, I don't want to talk to you鈥�. That will encourage you to talk with more people.
Finally, have you read something interesting recently? Do you have a book recommendation?
At different times I read different types of books. For instance, last year I had a period with quite a high workload. I have a full-time job and two young kids, life can be quite intense at times. I felt like my stress was a bit high, so I started reading books on how to relax and to deal with multiple responsibilities. One of the books I read is 鈥楤usy鈥� by Tony Crabbe, which I think, at least in that period, helped me a lot. It says that everybody tends to put 鈥榖usy鈥� as a tag on their agenda or on their daily life, but that's not something you should be proud of. That message really resonated with me. I started to stop telling my colleagues 鈥淚'm busy鈥�. Instead, when people ask me, how are you doing?鈥�, I now say 鈥淚'm working on this, this, this鈥�. So don't talk about 鈥榖usy鈥� so much, rather talk about what you're busy with. It鈥檚 much more informative about what you're doing. Interestingly, this often sparks conversations -- people think: 鈥渉ey, this is what I'm also interested in. Perhaps we should sit down, have a talk about it.鈥�
Recently I have been reading about topics related to my scientific content: AI for computational fluid dynamics. This is in our field an exciting new trend. Don't stop learning, no matter where you are in your career or life!